momofuku ginger scallion sauce

Makes about 3 cups

This amazing sauce is delicious on noodles or as a condiment with any roasted meat. The fragrance is intoxicating and makes everything taste incredible... This is an important component of the infamous momofuku bo ssam feast that I highly recommend.

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions (from 1 to 2 large bunches)
1/2 cup finely minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
1-1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
3/4 teaspoons sherry-wine vinegar
3/4 teaspoons coarse salt

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl; let stand 15 to 20 minutes before using. Sauce may be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

momofuku bo ssäm

This dish takes time (6 hours) to slow cook the pork, but is surprisingly easy. It was so good that we proclaimed it one of the best things we have ever cooked! I posted a more verbose commentary here.

Serves 6 to 10

• 1 (8- to 10-pound) bone-in pork shoulder or pork butt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 7 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 12 oysters, shucked, for serving
• 1 cup napa cabbage kimchi, cut into strips for serving
• 1 cup napa cabbage kimchi, pureed, for serving
• 1 cup Ginger-Scallion Sauce, for serving
• 1 cup Ssam Sauce, for serving
• 2 cups steamed short-grain white rice, for serving
• 3 to 4 heads Bibb lettuce, leaves separated, washed well, and spun dry
• Sea salt

Directions

1. Place pork in a large bowl or roasting pan. In a medium bowl, mix together granulated sugar and 1 cup coarse salt. Rub sugar mixture all over pork and cover bowl with plastic wrap; transfer to refrigerator for at least 6 hours and up to overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
3. Transfer pork to a large roasting pan, discarding any accumulated juices (or drain accumulated juices from roasting pan that pork is in). Transfer roasting pan to oven and cook, basting every hour with rendered fat in roasting pan, until meat is tender and easily shredded with a fork, about 6 hours.
   
   
   
   
4. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together remaining tablespoon coarse salt and brown sugar; rub mixture all over pork.
5. Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees. Return pork to oven until sugar has melted into a crisp crust, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot with oysters, kimchis, ginger-scallion sauce, ssam sauce, rice, lettuce, and pickled vegetables.

momofuku vinegar pickles

another dish to go with the bo ssam feast, this recipe can be used with a variety of vegetable or fruits such as carrot, daikon or, napa cabbage or fruit like melon or apple-pear.

Ingredients:

1 cup water, piping hot from the tap

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

6 tablespoons sugar

2-1/4 tsp kosher salt

julienne cut daikon and carrot, scrubbed, peeled, trimmed and cut into thin slices.

Combine the water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves

Pack the prepared vegetables into a quart container. Pour the brine over the vegetables, cover, and refrigerate. You can eat the pickles immediately but they will taste better after they've had time to sit -- 3 to 4 days at a minimum, a week for optimum flavor. Most of these pickles will keep for at least a month.

momofuku ssäm sauce

Makes 1/4 cup-ish. I thought the original recipe from David Chang's Momofuku cookbook had too much liquid, so I cut the vinegar and oil in half and increased the miso and chili pastes! You can tweak to your own taste.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon ssamjang (soybean and chile-pepper paste)
1 tablespoon kochujang (Korean chile-pepper paste)
2 tablespoon sherry-wine vinegar
2 tablespoon grapeseed oil

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Sauce may be kept covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Orecchiette with Turkey Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

I had a package of orecchiette pasta in the pantry and when I saw broccoli rabe at the market, I pulled some spicy sausage I had tucked in the freezer and went looking online for a recipe. I found this from from Giada De Laurentiis, Everyday Italian Food Network. It's good, easy and very flavorful, a good hearty dish for winter.

Ingredients

• 2 bunches broccoli rabe, stems trimmed
• 1 pound orecchiette pasta
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound turkey Italian-style sausage, casings removed
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Pinch dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

Cook the broccoli rabe in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp tender, about 1 minute. Transfer the broccoli rabe to a large bowl of ice water to cool, saving the cooking water. Bring the reserved cooking water back to a boil.

Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up into pieces with a spoon, until browned and juices form, about 12 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, when the reserved cooking water is boiling, add the orecchiette and cook until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.

Strain the broccoli rabe and add it to the pan with the sausage mixture and toss to coat with the juices. Add the pasta to the skillet. Stir in the Parmesan and serve immediately.

Ton-Jiru, pork stewed with vegetable and thickened with miso

From Elizabeth Andoh's amazing cookbook Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen

Serves 6 to 8

1 Japanese leek or small western leek, about 3 oz
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
6 oz boneless pork from loin or shoulder, cut into small, thin strips
1 small carrot, about 3 oz, peeled and cut into julienne
1-inch chunk daikon, abou t2 oz, peeled and cut into julienne
5 to 6 inches burdock root, about 3 oz, rinsed and lightly scraped and cut on the diagonal into thin slices
Pinch of salt
splash of sake
2 quarts water
about 12 square inches kombu
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 block firm tofu, about 14 oz, drained and pressed, then cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 small bunch mitsuba about 15 stalks, trimmed, stems cut into short pieces, and leaves choped
3 tablespoons mugi miso
3 tablespoons sweet, light miso, preerably Saikyo miso

Trim away the hairy troot and any tough green top of the leek and then cut in half lengthwise. Rinse under cold water to remove any grit or oil. Place the cut edges down on a cutting board and slice on the diagonal into thin strips. SEt aside.

Heat the oil in a deep pot over high heat. Stir-fry the pork for 1 minutes, or until it begins to color. Then add the leek, carrot, caikon and burdock root and continue to stir-fry over high heat for 1 minute. Add the salt and sake, and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the burdock root emits a woodsy aroma.

Add the water and kombu. When the soup begins to boil, skim away any froth and reduce the heat to maintain a steady but not vigorous simmer. Continue to cook, skimming away froth as neede, for 4 to 5 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender and the pork is thoroughly cooked. Remove and discard the kombu. Season with the soy sauce. Add the tofu to the soup and simmer for 1 minute to heat it through.

Divide the mitsuba evenly among individual soup bowls (I used parsley since I couldn't find mitsuba).

Just before serving, place the miso in a separate bowl, ladle in some of the hot stock from the pot, stir to mix it, and then add to the pot.

Ladle the soup into the bowls. The brief exposure to hot soup is sufficient to cook the mitsuba. Serve immediately.

Many version of tonjiru substitute scallions for leeks and include some kind of mushroom. You can also use a pungent dark miso, such as Sendai miso to balance the flavors.